


Quaint charm

by AweburnPhoenix



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Banter, Domestic, Early MSR, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Ice Cream, Past Relationship(s), Pool, Rural area, Season/Series 01, Sunscreen, The Unremarkable House (X-Files), Undercover, bearded Mulder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 10:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19315885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AweburnPhoenix/pseuds/AweburnPhoenix
Summary: The FBI's most unwanted find themselves going undercover for a case, in a rural area, during a heat wave; young and innocent season 1 MSR!





	1. Profiling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Berenbos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Berenbos/gifts).



> My dearest friend Astrid:  
> I yelled in happiness when I saw your name on my screen. I was thrilled to see your prompt because I got to write something new that I had never pondered about before. Then, I was immediately scared about not making it justice. Also, how would I hide writing from my usual beta? Yeah, you can guess the bit you have reviewed is not gonna be here. Sorry for the white lie :P  
> I hope you enjoy this little thing I've woven for you. It was so fun to write and explore early MSR, thank you so much for the prompt. I hope I haven't gone too OOC. I've also added some little details I know you love, it was a fun investigative task to go over my previous fics, to re-read your comments, to add things from your tweets these past months... I laughed so hard when you posted that "bearded David" poll (I promise, I had already written most of this before that!!) 
> 
> As always, a HUGE thank you to my beta @admiralty, for making this make sense :)
> 
> And now, to the story! Hope y'all enjoy it :D

 

_(September 1993)_

 

"Mulder? What the hell are you wearing?"

Dana had been waiting for him at the airport security entrance for more than an hour. She was starting to think he was not going to show up. It was obvious that he was not happy with the assignment. It was not an X-File and he made clear that he dreaded the idea of spending days on an old assignment, especially having to work undercover. But there was nothing they could do: he had been called and they had to follow the orders.

As much of a rebel as she had pegged him to be, she never imagined he'd show up dressed like that. His shirt, typically neat and tidy, was today ruffled; a couple of buttons were undone, no tie to be seen. That was maybe a good thing, as Dana had always thought his choice of tie coloring a bit too crazy. His designer and perfectly-ironed pants were also gone, instead, he was wearing some dark jeans. Mulder had topped the outfit with dark glasses, a leather jacket… and was that a bracelet and a Titanium ring? Three-day stubble gave him an older look and Dana pondered for a second how sexy he would look in a couple of years time.

She immediately pushed the thought that started to build in her nether regions aside. Now was not the time. Fuck Ethan and his leaving her so out of the blue. Her mind was not in the best place right now for this assignment, with Fox Mulder looking like this. She thought she had left behind her taste for older guys when she had fallen for Ethan, but apparently, her mind was back on her old self and threatening to make this assignment unbearable from second one.

"I am a bohemian writer in his forties, I gotta play the part," Mulder finally answered as if it was totally obvious and walked past her towards the TSA point.

"I am going to regret not having chosen the newly wed folder, right?" Dana joked, getting up and following him.

"In every possible way." Mulder looked back at her quickly, not stopping his walk. Pushing his shades down his nose he wiggled his eyebrows, smirking.

Yes, it was going to be a tough assignment.

Rolling her eyes, Dana brisked her pace, overtaking him.

"Whatever. Move faster, we're gonna miss our flight."

"Don't get mad at me, Scully. This is Henry Moody, blocked writer; these are the kind of things he does..."

 

******

 

Mulder spent the whole flight taking a closer look at his old notes. It had been more than three years ago when he had prepared that profile and it had not been one of his best. Back then he was still new in the VCU and the case had been a dead-end from the start. They had never caught the killer: he had stopped after a couple deaths and was never to be heard of again.

It really surprised him when he was called by his superior about it the previous week. The "South Carolina Tongue Chopper" was back, and they wanted Mulder to find him. Their first idea was to assign him some local agent as a partner, but Mulder was not having it. It was either Scully or he wouldn't do it. It was annoying enough that they were asking him to take a non-X-Files case, so there was no way he was working with a new person. It had taken him months (though sometimes it seemed like more than a year) to get used to the little red-head poking around all of his theories, but he had to admit he enjoyed her presence. She was usually wrong with her skepticism and her science-filled theories, but they helped him solve the cases, so it was a refreshing help. She was still so green and naive, and Mulder still had trouble trusting her 100%, but he could see her potential and what a great agent she was. Dana Scully would help him solve this thing quickly and they could be back chasing _little green men_ in no time.

Mulder kept flipping through the pages and got to their undercover profiles. The local enforcement had reduced their search into Saluda, a little town in the west of the state. But as much as they had tried they hadn't been able to find a trace of the killer. So they thought a continuous vigilance from undercover would be best so as not to arouse suspicion. As soon as he requested teaming with Scully, they had suggested a newlywed couple would be a more fruitful approach. Mulder couldn't help but grin. When Scully was called into the meeting and learned Mulder was initially paired with another male agent, she demanded to take that undercover profile.

"Sir, I imagine you weren't sending them as a newlywed gay couple," she had interrupted Assistant Director Skinner. Everybody in the room had silently gasped. That was one of the secret weapons of Dana Scully: she left everybody speechless as she took shit from nobody. She was a little lady, but she was the fiercest agent Mulder had ever seen.

"Agent Scully, we think that adding you to the assignment gives us the advantage to give the undercover case a new approach..."

"And I think I can make as good of a job using Agent Walker's original cover," she ended the conversation taking the discarded folder from the middle of the meeting table and started leafing through it.

Mulder was the only one left smiling. Dana Scully definitely knew how to silence a room full of bossy men.

That was how they ended up posing as a writer trying to get his muse back and his editorial agent who'd follow him around to make sure he did so. That would give him an excuse to be poking around town asking questions and being nosy, and she could come and go whenever they needed some external tests.

 

*****

 

After landing in Columbia and meeting with the local authorities for a briefing, they headed to Saluda. On the one-hour drive, Dana made the most of the time to check on the case file again. She had already given it a lot of reads, but she didn't feel particularly talkative that afternoon so she thought it would be best to occupy her time with something useful.

Mulder's notes on the 1990s case were really thorough. She wanted to comment on the fact that his reports nowadays were nothing like this. Mulder dreaded writing reports and he was more than happy to let her do most of the work, even when it meant reducing his wacko theories to a footnote.

The "South Carolina Tongue Chopper" had been a double murder case that had been left unsolved just because the killings had been quick, and stopped after those two cases. Three years had passed until the case had resurfaced the past week.

The first victim had been a  Creative Writing professor from Wafford College who had been found dead in his office. His tongue had been cut, and he was left to bleed to death during the course of a weekend. The death had occurred immediately after the final grades were given out, so Mulder's profile had the killer being a 19 year-old first-year student whose grades hadn't been as good as expected. As the school year was over, no trace of the student could be found and the case was left to settle. About six months later, a similar death happened at the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, about 30 miles away from the first one in Spartanburg. The director of the company was found in a similar manner. No more deaths had occurred until August 1993 when a gallery painter had been killed in his home in the outskirts in Saluda. The rage in the killer had escalated. Not only the tongue had been removed but also his hands had been deeply cut.

Noticing the interest in artistic men the killer had, the FBI had decided the best course of action was to try and get Mulder to pose as a writer.

"So, we should be looking for early-twenties men, educated, with an interest in the arts," Scully loudly closed the folder and placed it on the back seat.

"And who may have some tongues stored in their freezers," Mulder added faking seriousness. "The ones that we clear out could make for a nice date, huh?" Mulder smiled her way.

Dana sighed loudly and tried not to be mad at him. He was still shocked by her going on a date while he was putting all his effort into chasing that Jersey Devil. And he wouldn't stop joking about it whenever he had the chance. But it was not her fault that she cared about her love life more than he did.

"What if it's a woman?" she suddenly blurted, wanting to poke him.

"It doesn't fit the profile, haven't you been paying attention?"

"But what if the profile is wrong?"

Dana realized the impact of her words only once they left her mouth.

"Scully, that hurt!" he mocked a heart attack and furrowed his brows.

She just wanted to tease him, but somehow the idea started making sense in her mind.

"I mean, it not being the common thing doesn't mean that it can't be possible. Isn't that what you're always telling me with the X-Files?"

"There are too many details against it, Scully. Female killers are far less common. They stay at the same place, are less outwardly violent, are prone to the use of poison and have a strong relationship with the murdered person. This is a completely different case."

"Did you ever consider a love affair?"

Mulder's scoff resonated in the silence of the car.

"Scully, if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that the killer is a young person in their early twenties. All the victims are men over 40."

"So?"

"Besides, the first victim was happily married. Why would a young lady get involved with an old married man? There should've been thousands of guys her own age interested around her at college, it makes no sense."

 _If only you knew_ … Dana clearly remembered that one time she had been in that same position. She could have done it, she almost did. Right before she came to her senses and decided that wasn't the life she wanted to live. She probably had been in love with Daniel, but she couldn't be a homewrecker. She didn't want to live with that burden. As intelligent, supportive, and handsome as he might have been, he was not worth the load.

"I'm just telling you that it's plausible, and we should be looking into it."

Dana grabbed the folder again to thoroughly check on the first case with this new idea.

Stanford Crane, 45, married with two children. He had been found bled dry on a Monday morning. He was supposed to have been gone on a symposium for the weekend; so although his wife thought it was weird for him to not call for 48 hours, it was not completely unusual. Dana wondered how many times he might have faked going away for the weekend to stay with his young lover. She flicked through the papers to find the picture of the guy. Yeah, he was good-looking, definitely the type she would have been interested in. But Mulder didn't need to know about that. Not that she was ashamed of it, or maybe she was, a bit.

 

******

 

Soon after, they finally reached their destination. It was a quiet two-story house in the outside of the town, as they needed to be close but also would need the privacy of not being right in the middle. They entered and left their bags near the door, inspecting the rustic building they knew nothing about. It was not too big: an open first floor with a living room and a small kitchen, and an upper floor with a bedroom and a guest room.

When they entered the master bedroom Mulder instantly jumped onto the king-size bed.

"So, do you want right or left side?"

If looks could kill, Mulder would be fully dead already.

"Just joking!" he quickly added, sitting up. "I know you take the right side."

He just couldn't let it be. It was too much fun to poke at her.

"And how would you know that?"

There, she was intrigued. So his guess was right. He loved being right.

"Please, Scully, I'm an investigator and a profiler."

"You think you got me all figured out already, don't you?"

She moved away from him, took off her shoes, and sat down on the armchair close to the window.

"Not completely, but I'm almost there. I just pay attention to details," he relaxed a bit again, lying down. "You always leave your gun on the right nightstand. I've also seen your shoes on that side. And you've complained more about your right shoulder than your left. So it was easy to figure it out," he sat up again to check her face. "Unless you prefer being the big spoon," he started wondering and immediately regretted it. It was supposed to be a funny comment but maybe it was too early to joke about her ex-boyfriend. _Mulder, you are a jerk_. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay, you were right, so—"

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

"Saved by the bell!" Mulder yelled leaving the room.

As he opened the door, he watched what he guessed was the town welcoming committee smiling at him. Half a dozen women were standing on the porch with little baskets filled with muffins, fruits, and other foods. How were they there so soon? News flew by quickly in little towns, he guessed.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Moody. And welcome to the Saluda community," the woman in charge said as she offered her basket full of cookies.

The women behind her mumbled their welcomes too and pushed their baskets through. Mulder struggled to handle them after he grabbed the third one, so he asked for help.

"Karen, could you come down?" he yelled as he kept smiling at the women crowding around the porch trying to peek inside. As soon as he spoke he could see their faces turning mournful.

"Is there a Mrs. Moody?" one of the women whispered a little too loudly.

"We were told he was single," he could hear another.

"This is Karen Charles, my agent. Karen, meet the lovely ladies of Saluda," he said as Scully showed up, handling her the baskets he had been holding so he could grab the rest.

"Nice to meet you," Scully quickly nodded at them and started walking towards the kitchen. "Henry, aren't you inviting them in?"

"Uhm, are you sure?" Mulder wondered if she was just being polite, asking him to shove them out, or messing with him. He took his eyes from the ladies for a moment to look back at Scully, who was already coming back for more baskets.

"Isn't this why we… you came here? To meet new people and get ideas for your next book?" Scully replied a little too loudly. What was she trying to do? This was not their suspect group… Oh, well, she was stubbornly pushing her idea of a female killer.

"You are right. Ladies, please, forgive my rudeness, it's been a long traveling day, I must have left my manners on the road," he apologized opening the door fully and leading the welcoming group to the living room. "Can I offer you some iced tea?"

He started walking to the kitchen, pushing Scully in front of him.

"Don't you dare leave me alone with all these _maidens_ ," he whispered in her ear as he walked further into the kitchen.

"C'mon, I'll only make them uncomfortable, they're here to see you. Gather all your gallantry and profiler skills and get all the details you can get out of them."

Mulder couldn't believe she was serious. She pushed him out of the kitchen with those words and he reluctantly walked away. He was not ready to be the center of attention of half a dozen women.

They sat around and left him a spot at the middle of the couch. A young blonde patted the seat, inviting him to join them, and Mulder internally patted his own shoulder. _You can do this, man_.

After bringing them some beverages Scully moved upstairs and disappeared for the rest of the evening. Every now and then Mulder could see her peeking through the banister with a wicked smile. He'd make her pay for this.

 

*****

 

After several hours, Mulder finally managed to lead all the women out of the house, after promising he would invite them some other time and let them read one of his novels. Dana had very much enjoyed his weirdness being among the magpie group. The flaring eyes he showed her every time she peeked to see how he was doing let her know that he wouldn't hesitate to get back at her sometime soon. But she didn't mind. It had been totally worth it.

After the women had left, they settled in and had dinner. It finally felt like any other assignment, only she had a comfortable dwelling instead of a crappy motel room. It was not her favorite place to stay, she much preferred busy city-like apartments than silent houses on the outskirts of town. But she wouldn't complain. The temperature in the house was quite nice, and the women had told Mulder that they were lucky that this second heat wave was so much better than the July one, which had been above 100 degrees for more than 20 days. Dana didn't mind hot weather, but that seemed like a little too much.

She left Mulder flicking through the channels on TV and went upstairs to have her well-deserved rest. It didn't take her much to fall asleep, tired as she was from the trip, the moving and the heat; and she found herself peacefully dreaming soon enough.

 _She was standing on a corridor in a house much like the one they were staying. It was dark, three doors could be seen from where she stood, as well as_   _stairs at the end of the corridor. There was also a fish tank, a quite big one illuminated with a faint light. She could see a couple orange fish swimming around the green plant decorations. And was that a UFO toy gurgling around the top? She couldn't help a laugh. That was the kind of thing Mulder would definitely have if he ever got fish for pets. Dana tried to keep the idea in mind to give it to him someday in the future._

_She was absentmindedly dusting the paintings on the wall when someone called for her._

_"Honey, quick! Come down here!" Dana started running down the stairs and entered an open space, full of furniture. A couple of sofas, some tables, and a desk? That was weird. She could also see a small kitchen to her left._

_But her eyes centered on a redheaded little girl, about a year old, who was standing pretty unsteadily in the middle of the living room. Suddenly she made a couple of clumsy steps and fell into the arms of a dark_ - _haired man who was hunkered down with her back to her. Dana felt a little teardrop threatening to escape her eye as she moved towards the pair. Was she dreaming about having a kid? That was unusual._

_"Did you see that, Scully? Lillian just took her first steps!" the man said turning around, and Dana was surprised to see he resembled Mulder so much, only older. He even had that same stubble he had been wearing that day. The dream was turning even weirder._

_"C'mon, Dad, it's not such a big deal. Everybody does it sooner or later." Dana noticed then, for the first time, a teenager sitting on an armchair. Well,_ sprawling out _would be a better term to describe the way the dark-haired boy was sitting._

_Was that Mulder's kid? He really looked like him, the same square jaw, and he was so much older than the little girl, so it made sense. What was Mulder doing with her kid? Was it her house? Or his house? And why did he call her honey?_

Dana started spiraling and finally woke up, all restless. She needed to calm down. This undercover case was affecting her in unwanted ways. She didn't know Mulder that much yet, but of one thing she was sure: there was no way she was going to end up with him. He was a crackpot. _Well, maybe that was a little harsh, Dana._ Maybe just a little… ludicrous.

Suddenly she heard a noise downstairs and got up from the bed, feeling a little dizzy because of the rush, grabbed her gun from the nightstand and ran out. When she reached the living room, she found Mulder tiptoeing back from the kitchen.

"Jesus, Mulder, you scared me. What are you doing awake at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same," he calmly answered, taking a gulp from the glass of water he had in his hand.

There he stood, leaning on the kitchen door, completely unfazed by the fact that he was wearing only underpants. Dana was always surprised at how little self-conscious Mulder was around her. Didn't he own any pajamas? She had a hard time focusing her gaze on his face.

"I, uhm, I just had a dream," she forced herself out of her drowsy state.

"Nightmare?"

Dana held a thought for a little second

"Nope, just something… weird," she finally pondered.

"Sexy dream?" Mulder asked smirking. "You're all flushed, and your face just turned that shade of red—"

"No!" she squealed turning away. "It's just this damned heat. I'm going back to bed now. Try being less noisy, will you?"

"Sorry, Scully. Sweet dreams."

She could tell he knew she hadn't told the whole truth, and she worried he might think she had indeed had a sexy dream. But why should she care? It was not something wrong, was it? Maybe it would have been preferable to that weird dream of her being Mulder's _honey_  and having two children around.


	2. Get it over with

Mulder was getting ready for the day. How he wished he could shave! The stubble was becoming a full beard and he was slightly uncomfortable. It was itchy and strange-looking, and he wondered how anybody would live their lives with that much hair on their face on a daily basis. He doubted he would wear one ever again. The only thing he could think about now was solving this case so he could get rid of it. He didn't look forward to sniffing around town looking like that. He was feeling so weird but he knew it was in the best interest of the case. The three men that had been killed were in their forties, so if he wanted to attract the killer's interest he had to look older.

Scully ignored him that morning and he was sad and worried about it. He must have bothered her last night somehow, but he couldn't understand why. It must have been because of his lightly dressed night ramble. He hadn't intended to wake her up, or for her to see him like that, but when it happened he thought the best way to get it over with was playing it cool. It was not his fault that it was the hottest summer he'd had to suffer in a while! He usually had trouble sleeping, but last night he hadn't slept a wink. It had taken all of his strength to get off the couch that morning, and a couple mugs of coffee to get him started. Scully had just taken the first one he had offered her, gulped it down in no time and flew out the house, mumbling something about her wanting to go to check some data at the coroner's. Mulder could swear they hadn't locked eyes for a second during the whole conversation. Maybe he should have come with Agent Walker and not risk ruining his professional relationship with Scully. It was too early to be this comfortable with her, but he couldn't help it. If he managed to lose her on the X-Files because of this stupid assignment he would regret it for the rest of his days.

Mulder sighed, leaving his mug on the sink, and moved upstairs to take a shower when the front doorbell sounded. He rushed back down and opened the door in no time.

"Good morning, Mr. Moody. I see you are an early bird," the young blonde from the day before was at the door, wearing a light summer dress and a big pamela hat.

At Mulder's surprise, she invited herself in.

"Uhm, Mandy, was it?"

"Good memory, sir," she smiled taking her sunglasses off and placing them on her dress, making the cleavage a little more prominent and showing a bathing suit below. "I just walked by on my way to the pool, and thought about inviting you to come? I think it'll be perfect to help you relax."

The girl couldn't be older than twenty and she was overtly and eagerly flirting with him. Maybe Scully was right?

"I, uhm, sure, sure. It's a great idea," Mulder retreated a bit, going for a notepad. He was not unused to women's advances on him, but he still felt uncomfortable. He preferred taking the reins himself. "If you write down the directions, I'll be there in no time."

"I can wait for you to get ready and guide you myself."

She was so blunt and Mulder felt so trapped, he needed to get her out.

"I gotta finish some things here first but I promise I'll be there asap," he offered her the pad again with the sweetest smile he could muster. He found it hard feigning interest. The girl was nice and attractive, but she was definitely not his type.

"Ok, but don't be late. I'll be waiting!" She scribbled a map and returned the pad, getting on her tiptoes and kissing his bearded cheek.

 

He'd been wasting time for more than an hour, slightly anxious to go out. He kept thinking about all the times he had managed to piss off his dates, and kept thinking he was going to blow this off. He knew he was intelligent, handsome and, well, good in bed; or at least he had been said so. He had no reason to be worried. But no matter what, he always said something that scared ladies away. That was why he didn't go on dates so often lately. He'd blame his work, but it was only half true.

He was about to get ready and leave when he heard the door slam. Rushing down the stairs he found Scully completely disheveled and looking like hell.

"What… what happened to you?"

"I hate the countryside. I hate cars. I hate phones. I hate this assignment!" She yelled throwing her bag on the floor, her jacket on the couch and walking past him.

She must be really pissed if she didn't care about leaving her bag and jacket wherever. Scully was the epitome of cleanliness.

"Wait, wait, wait. Calm down. What happened?" Mulder grabbed her by her shoulders and made her turn around. What initially seemed like a good idea immediately made him think twice. Her eyes were red with rage.

"The car broke down about four miles into the US-178. I tried calling a tow truck but there was not a fucking house around! So I started walking back… and here I am."

"You walked four miles? In this heat? And those shoes?"

_Mulder, shut your mouth up._ _Right now._ His brain was yelling at him but his tongue seemed to have a life of its own.

Scully's reply was an even more furious look and a turn around.

"I'm done for the day," she called on her way upstairs.

"Can I try to make your day better with an ice-cream and relaxing time by the pool?" he quickly offered. Scully's head dropped sideways in defeat. "Henry's treat for your hard work?" he added trying to lower his voice a little.

He had tried to change his voice when posing as "The Writer" so as to sound older; and it always made Scully laugh at the silliness of his attempt.

"Oooookay, I'll put on my bathing suit. There better be some nice shade at that pool, because I've already spent my limit of hours under the sun today."

"I can spread some sunscreen on you, you know?"

The only reply he got was a rolling of her eyes. It was so much fun to make her mad like that. He had started to think she enjoyed his silly jokes even more than he did.

"Don't be shy. It's not like I haven't seen you almost naked already, right?"

Her face turned another shade of red as she retreated to her room. Maybe he had gone a little too far? Maybe he shouldn't have brought up that first case when she had been so scared over mosquito bites.

 

******

 

They reached the town communal pool and Mulder asked Dana to go find a spot while he got the promised ice-creams. The place was quite crowded and there were no free deck chairs, so she chose one of the few shaded areas of grass that were still available and spread their towels. She felt a little self-conscious: her skin was so white in comparison to everybody around her. Back when she was a little girl she spent a lot of time at the beach. When they lived in San Diego, Dana passed a lot of time with her friends outside, always covering herself in sunscreen so as not to get sunburned. But it all stopped when high school started and she began to be so worried about her grades and her future that she felt she had no time to be outside. _Uptight bitch_ , Johnny had called her at the beginning of tenth grade, and she had slapped him so hard that no other boy had dared date her that year. She had been sad at first, but her grades improved so much due to it, so eventually she kind of thanked him.

She sat on her towel, still not removing her dress. Mulder was back with two cones and offered one to her, but immediately took it back.

"Wait, you're gonna melt in that. Take off the dress."

"Maybe later."

She extended her hand ignoring his words.

"C'mon, don't be shy, Karen," he winked at her, again using that lower tone voice that was both funny and so sexy.

Dana reluctantly admitted that she was already feeling too hot, and she had been there for only ten minutes or so. She finally got up and pulled the dress up over her head, neatly folded it and left it on the top corner of her towel.

"Better, right?" he praised her, earning a frown from her.

"Is it non-fat?" She had forgotten to tell him, so it may be a little late for it now. But maybe he had thought about it himself?

"Really, Scully. You? Worrying about your weight?"

So, no, it wasn't.

Dana caught him staring at her a little too long and decided to take the cone he was offering and let it go. Quickly sitting back down on her towel, her knees up, she hugged them with her empty arm and started licking on her ice cream. She had to admit it was really tasty.

On the corner of her eye, she noticed he was still staring at her, his eyes a little too focused on her tongue licking the ice-cream.

"Shouldn't you be focusing on the ladies that came to visit yesterday?" she finally called him off. His flirting banter was usually so innocent that she kind of enjoyed it, but today it seemed a little too much.

"I was just making sure your skin wasn't too red, I don't want you to get sunburned."

Ever the gentleman. Dana had to admit that even though he was a jerk some times, he also cared a lot about her. Partner-like only. She hoped.

"Maybe I should spread sunscreen on you," he said as he started fumbling in the bag he had brought, trying to get the plastic bottle out of it. As he was still holding his cone with his right hand it was turning out to be a quite difficult task. Mulder changed hands and rummaged with his right hand.

"I'll be damned."

Still not able to find it, he shoved the ice-cream up to the cone into his mouth and opened the bag with both his hands, easily finding the bottle that way.

"Jackpot!" he yelled, raising the sunscreen with his right arm and taking the cone out of his mouth with his left. As his mouth was full of ice-cream he almost spat some of it in his joyful scream. "Sorry about that," he then added covering his mouth.

Dana stretched her arm, asking for the bottle.

"You aim to apply it yourself, with just one hand?" he asked after gulping down what he still had in his mouth. "Are you gonna reach every spot? I told you I wouldn't let your skin burn, not on my watch."

"You doubt I'm that flexible?" Well, yeah, two could play that game. "Besides, you too have _just one hand_ free."

At her words, he finished his cone in three big bites, getting his mouth full again. She couldn't help but laugh at his eagerness and he almost spat it out again, which made her laugh even harder.

Mulder moved forward to get the sunscreen on her. She felt a little awkward but she had to admit that she did need him to do it. As flexible as she might be, it was not so easy to spread the lotion on her back. And having already walked under the sun only in her t-shirt, she would be sore later if she didn't let him apply the cream thoroughly.

As he approached her, Dana noticed he had a brown dollop of chocolate ice cream on his beard. He probably didn't feel it, as he was used to always being shaven. She instinctively stretched out her hand to remove it. He was taken aback by her sudden movement and his eyes inquisitively asked her what she was doing, his mouth still chewing the cookie cone.

"You got some…" she started explaining as she took the ice-cream drop on her index finger and showed him.

She could see he was about to move forward and lick the ice-cream from her finger so she moved quicker and put her hand down to wipe it on her towel. They had gone a little overboard, and she wanted to put an end to it.

"Henry, I see you finally made it," a female voice interrupted the awkward moment and Dana couldn't be more thankful for it.

"Hey, hi, Mandy," Mulder cleared his throat. "Yeah, we did—"

"I'd been waiting for a while, I didn't think you'd show up," the woman seemed upset. She was about twenty something, and Dana had been closely watching her the afternoon before. "I'm heading home already, maybe we can see each other tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure, I'll find you later."

"Ok, whatever." She turned around in a whirlwind of blonde hair.

"Mulder, had she invited you to come with her?" Dana asked when the girl was far enough so she couldn't hear them.

"Maybe."

Dana massaged her temples in desperation. Sometimes she thought her partner had a complete lack of social skills. That woman could very well be the person they were looking for and he might have blown their chances of getting closer to her.

"You should go and apologize to her," she said looking him in the eye seriously.

"What? Why?"

"Jesus Christ," Dana lowered her face into her hand as she quickly got up and went after the girl.

 

******

 

Mulder couldn't believe he had been so straightforward with Scully. What was wrong with him? He usually managed to keep his cool with the female agents. And even when he loved doing the innocent flirting he hadn't gone so far ever before. There was something about Dana Scully that made him so comfortable around her. As if she was an old friend, as if he had known her for eons. If he believed in reincarnation, he'd say they must have met in another life. He was still pondering about that one. Contrary to popular beliefs, he didn't fall for each and every supernatural or fantasy story. There were limits to his spookiness.

As he saw her talking to Mandy, he kept wondering if he had pushed her limits. What if she filed a suit against him for harassment? She had stood up so angrily…

After a little while, Scully started coming back, and he could see both she and Mandy were parting in a better mood than they had when they started talking. As good as a profiler as he thought himself to be, there was something about the female mind that he had yet to master.

"Thank goodness, I managed to fix your mistake," Scully said as she grabbed the sunscreen he was still holding and squeezed it to get some of it on her hand.

Mulder moved back to his towel, not wanting to push her buttons any further, and tried to be cool. He forced himself to think twice and do his best to not put his foot in his mouth.

"So, how exactly?" He wanted to ask what he had done wrong, but he guessed he should already know, so he asked in a veiled manner and hoped she would answer his unasked question.

"I told her that you had just left a tempestuous relationship and you were still healing. So you might be behaving a little weird, but surely you were interested."

"Am I?"

"You should be!" she yelled at him, handing him back the sunscreen and turning her back to him as she rubbed some cream on her arms. "I told her you'd be taking her out tonight."

Scully then turned her head around and stared at him as if waiting for him to answer. She had planned it all so there was nothing else for him to say.

"What? I guess I agree; if you think it's the right move…"

She shook her head in mock desperation.

"Weren't you going to help me with my back?"

So she wasn't mad at him. Mulder felt a weight lift, he had been holding for the last few minutes, and quickly unscrewed the bottle, putting some lotion on his palm and quickly spreading it on Scully's back. He tried not to take too long, mainly not to disturb her any more, but then also for himself. It had been a little too long since he had touched a woman's body like that and there was a part of him that was enjoying it a little too much. He finished quickly, left the bottle on his towel and laid down on his front before she could notice that particular part.

"I think I'll have a little nap," he declared turning his face away from her, shutting his eyes.

"You didn't get enough sleep last night? Sexy dreams?" She teased him and he guessed he somehow deserved it.

"Ha ha," he just scoffed back. No need to keep going. He actually needed to cool down instead of going back in the ring.

He then heard Scully grab the plastic bottle by his side. Wasn't she done already? He turned to face her and saw her on her knees by his side. He panicked. He realized she was going to return the favor on his back one second before she touched his shoulder.

"No need to do that, Scully," he squealed a little. "I don't get sunburned." _Woman, please, stop_. He pleaded the universe or whatever ordering force out there he didn't believe in to make her stop. He didn't want to make a fool of himself. He needed a cold shower but he couldn't get up in his current state.

"Well, I already poured the lotion, so better safe than sorry." She kept going and Mulder started gathering all of his most disgusting memories to counter what she was doing. It definitely had not been the best idea to go to the pool together.

 

*****

 

After her little talk to Mandy, Dana was a little more convinced that she was their suspect. The girl seemed nice, maybe just a little on edge for being young. She had no proof against Mandy, but something still felt wrong about the girl. She had lived in Saluda since she was young. Dana had asked her about whether she was still studying or had a job... and she had changed conversation quickly, so she couldn't make a connection to the college in Spartanburg or the theatre in Greenville. Dana couldn't tell why, but something about Mandy was odd. "A woman senses these things," Melissa would say. And even if Dana didn't believe in those things, she felt like following her intuition this time. She was determined to try and get some information out of her and thought the girl would be more open talking to Mulder.

It was totally against the rules but she wanted to search the house while he took her out. She wanted out of this assignment as soon as possible and they had no time or reason yet for a search warrant. It would also blow their cover if she was wrong, so it was best to bend the rules a little. Just this once. She would be quick and careful and nobody would know. She thought about telling Mulder. But he'd be so proud of himself for having managed to get her "uptight partner" to do something illegal. No, he didn't need to know.

"Don't wait up for me!" Mulder called downstairs, signaling he was leaving.

Dana moved to the stairs to say goodbye. Damn, he was looking good.

"Really? You think you'll manage to stay out for so long?" she bit back. "Just make sure not to piss her off," she winked at him and retreated to her room.

As she heard the door close she got dressed more comfortably, putting on some trainers —she needed silent shoes— and sneaked out of the house, leaving her room light on.

Dana got to Mandy's house just in time to see her grab Mulder's dress shirt and pull him inside. Whoops, this was going to make her mission a little bit more complicated. Still determined, she walked around the house trying to find the back door. Jackpot! It was open and led directly to the kitchen. She peered inside the living room and saw Mulder and Mandy sitting on the couch. She was somewhat happy for him being on a date. Aside from the fact that she believed the girl to be a serial killer, it was good for Mulder to hang out with people. Entering the kitchen she could hear them talk.

"Listen, Mandy, I'm really flattered, but I'm not really interested…"

_Damn, Mulder,_ Dana sighed. _Already?_ He hadn't been there for more than five minutes. Would it really be so hard to pretend a little?

"It's ok, I understand. Karen already told me. Let me just get us a drink. Just some chat, no hard feelings," Dana heard her say and then some steps, and realized she had to leave immediately.

Outside the house again, she peeked through the curtained window and watched as Mandy prepared some cocktails. Moving to an upper cabinet she saw her grabbing a pill box, taking one out, smashing it and pouring it into one of the glasses. Definitely suspicious.

As soon as Mandy left the kitchen, Dana rushed in again and went for the cabinet. She needed to see what she had mixed into that drink. Rohypnol. _Shit_.

She had read something about that. It was a new drug introduced from Europe in the last couple years related to date-rape. The sedative effect was quite powerful and she had about 10-15 minutes before it started working. Dana rushed to the girl's freezer. Mulder believed the killer must have kept the tongues as trophies. She prayed for him to be right about that. Drugging a person was offense enough to get her house searched, but she felt like she could dive in since she was already deep in water.

Trying to be as silent as she possible she opened the freezer's door, and there they were: the three tongues on display. Dana grabbed her cuffs and her gun and stormed into the living room: it was over.

 

 

"What did I miss?"

Dana looked up from the book she was reading and found Mulder finally awake.

"You don't remember a thing, do you?" she asked, moving forward.

He shook his head and she noticed him wince. It would be a while until he felt completely normal again.

"Your date drugged you, sorry about that." She was so sorry to have pushed him through that, it had been her fault. But everything turned out well and they had solved the case. So maybe the ends justified the means. "I acted fast and they managed to get it out of your system, but I guess some had already come through. Rohypnol is quite strong and fast."

Mulder seemed still confused. "So, I guess Mandy was the killer? You were right, you solved the case," Mulder seemed defeated. He hadn't wanted to admit that his profile might have been wrong and now it was hitting him hard.

"Let's just say we worked it out together. I couldn't have done it without you, partner!" she tried to cheer him, bumping his fist.

"So, since the case is over, can I get rid of this already?" he quickly changed the subject scratching his beard.

"I'll see what I can do," Dana started leaving and asked for a nurse.

"Could you get me a cute one but without killer instincts this time?"

Well, maybe he was already feeling better.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Comments are the nourishment of the writer's soul, so THANKS SO MUCH if you have a minute to leave some words <3


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